Valve assembly

ABSTRACT

Valve assembly having at one end a valve actuator which is operative to move the valve from one position, such as an open position, into another position, such as a closed position, but which cannot thereafter be used to return the valve to its first or open position due to a lost-motion connection between them. On the opposite end of the valve assembly, a valve actuator is provided which cannot be operated by hand or by a conventional tool but can be operated by a special tool to return or reset the valve from its other position into its one position. The last mentioned valve actuator includes an arrangement for indicating unauthorized resetting of the valve.

United States Patent Petty Aug. 29, 1972 [54] VALVE ASSEMBLY FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] Inventor: William F. Petty, C Fl 881,1296/1953 Germany ..85/45 Assignee: G. o ins, cto Inle l Great BntalnPrimary Examiner-Henry T. Klinksiek [22] FIlCdf Nov. 9, 1970Att0rneyGeorge H. Baldwin and Arthur G. Yeager [21] Appl. No.: 87,809ABSTRACT [52] U S Cl 251/77 251/288 85/45 Valve assembly having at oneend a valve actuator 85/9 which is operative to move the valve from oneposi- [51] Int Cl 7 F161 31/44 tion, such as an open position, intoanother position, [58] Fie'ld 1 I77 such as a closed position, but whichcannot thereafter 38 be used to return the valve to its first or openposition due to a lost-motion connection between them. On the oppositeend of the valve assembly, a valve actuator is [56] References cuedprovided which cannot be operated by hand or by a UNITED STATES PATENTSconventional tool but can be operated by a special tool to return orreset the valve from its other position 2'994341 8/1961 Leopolfi et a1"137/382 into its one position. The last mentioned valve actualal if Qtor includes an arrangement for indicating 093 26 9/ 7 si ga' 85/ Uunauthorized resetting of the valve. 2,371,121 3/1945 Basquin ..85/32 3Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. '29, 1972 IL J VALVE ASSEMBLYThis invention relates to a valve assembly which enables ready andconvenient moving of the valve from one position, such as an openposition, to another posi tion but inhibits its being returned to itsoriginal position.

The present valve assembly is particularly advantageous for use in thegas or water line in a residence, or in other situations where the valveshould be capable of being closed readily by persons not speciallytrained to service the valve but should be reopened only by trainedpersonnel, so as to avoid the danger of an explosion, for example. Inaccordance with the present invention, a valve assembly is providedwhich has these characteristics and which is relatively simple inconstruction and durable and reliable in operation.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide anovel and improved valve assembly which enables the valve to be movedreadily from one to another position but not back again into the oneposition, and particularly wherein the valve may be closed readily butwhich inhibits the reopening of the valve.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a valve assemblywhich has provision for indicating any unauthorized resetting of thevalve once it has been moved from one to another position.

While the invention is applicable to use in situations in which thevalve will be normally open and in which it is desirable that any personhave the ability to close the valve but not thereafter to reset orreopen the valve, it may by a simple reorientation of the parts beadapted for situations in which it is desired that the valve be normallyclosed, that it be readily opened by an unskilled person but thatresetting of the valve into closed position cannot readily beaccomplished except by authorized persons provided with a special toolfor the purpose.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent fromthe following detailed description of a presently-preferred embodimentthereof, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the present valve assembly, showing thevalve-closing actuator in full lines of one limit stop and in phantomlines at its other limit sto FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of thisvalve assembly;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the valve assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2 andshowing the valve re-opening actuator thereat;

FIG. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through the valve assembly,taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 1 and showing the valve open;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. 2 and showing therotational positions of the valve-closing actuator and the plug valvemember in the normal, open position of the valve;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing the rotational positionof these parts when this actuator is turned to close the valve;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIGS. 5 and 6 showing the parts after thevalve-closing actuator has beenturned back to its original (FIG. 5)position but with the plug valve member remaining in its valve-closingposition;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the valveclosing actuator andthe rotary plug valve member before assembly; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 99 inFIG. 2 and showing the attachment of the tampering indicator arrangementon the valve re-opening actuator.

Referring first to FIGS. 2 and 4 in particular, the present valveassembly includes a conventional annular valve body or housing 11 ofknown design having integral, screw-threaded inlet and outlet fittings12 and 13 on its opposite sides. The valve body has an inlet passage 14(FIG. 4), an outlet passage 15 and a frustoconical chamber or cavity 16between them.

A tapered plug valve member 17 is rotatably received in the valve bodycavity 16 in sealing engagement with the latters frusto-conical sidewall. The plug valve member presents a cross bore 18 (FIG. 4), which inone rotational position of the plug valve member provides full fluidcommunication between the inlet and the outlet passages 14 and 15 in thevalve body. This open position of the plug valve member 17 is indicatedin full lines in FIG. 1. The plug valve member 17 may be turnedcounterclockwise in FIG. 1 to the closed position, shown in phantom, inwhich it completely blocks the inlet passage 14 from the outlet passage15.

In normal use, the plug valve member 17 may be turned from its openposition to its closed position by turning a valve-closing actuator 19.This actuator is cylindrical at its lower end and has a snug, butrotatable, tit thereat in a complementary recess 20 formed in the upperend of the plug valve member 17, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 8. At itsupper end, the actuator 19 presents opposite flat sides, which enable itto be conveniently gripped and turned by a conventional wrench orpliers.

The actuator has a radially outwardly-protruding projection 22, which isengageable alternatively with a pair of upwardly-projecting stop members23 and 24 (FIGS. 1 and 2) on the upper end of the valve body 11.,

As best seen in FIG. 1, these stop members are spaced apart 90circumferentially and they provide opposite limit stops which permit theactuator 19 to be turned only one-quarter turn between the full-lineposition and the phantom-line position in FIG. 1.

Near its lower end the actuator 19 has a pair of diametrically extendingcross bores 25 and 26 (FIG. 5) which intersect each otherperpendicularly. A first arcuate slot 27 extends between theintersecting cross bores 25, 26 at the left side in FIG. 5, and asimilar arcuate slot 28 extends between the intersecting cross bores atthe right side in FIG. 5. Each of these arcuate slots is open from theintersection of the cross bores 25, 26 (at the center of the actuator19) radially outward to the cylindrical periphery of the actuator.Between the slots 27 and 28 the actuator presents sector-shaped solidsegments 29 and 30.

The plug valve member 17 carries a cross pin 31 which extendsdiametrically through the cross-bored and slotted section of theactuator 19, so that the actuator 19 is coupled to the plug valve memberin the manner now to be explained. The cross pin 31 has a snug, butsliding, fit in the slots 27, 28, so that the actuator 19 can be turnedwith respect to the plug valve member, as explained hereinafter.

FIG. 5 shows the positions of the parts when the -valve is open. At thistime the actuator 19 is at its extreme clockwise position in FIG. 1,with its projection 22 abutting against the stop member 23 on valve body11. At this time the cross bore 25 in the actuator 19 snugly receivesthe cross pin 31 on the plug valve member 17 (FIG. 5) and the passage 18in the plug valve member is in full registration with the inlet andoutlet passages 14 and in the valve body 11, as shown in FIG. 4.

To close the valve, the actuator 19 is turned 90 counterclockwise inFIG. 1 from the full line position to the phantom line position, whereits projection 22 abuts against the stop member 24 on the valve body1 1. This brings the parts to the position shown in FIG. 6 because theactuator segments 29 and 30 have engaged the cross pin 31 to cause theplug valve member 17 to turn in unison with the actuator 19. Thisquarter-turn of the plug valve member 17 from its open position causesit now to block the fluid communication between the valve body inlet andoutlet ports 14 and 15.

The now-closed valve cannot be re-opened merely by turning the actuator19 back to its former position because of the lost-motion connection nowprovided between the actuator and the plug valve member. As shown inFIG. 7, if the actuator is turned 90 clockwise from its FIG. 6 position,such rotational movement is not imparted .to the plug valve member 17,which remains in its closed position. The arcuate slots 27 and 28 inactuator 19 permit the actuator to be turned while the plug valve memberremains stationary. The return rotation of the actuator 19 is limited bythe engagement of its projection 22 with the stop member 23 on the valvebody 1 l, as shown in full lines in FIG. 1.

Consequently, the actuator 19 can be turned clockwise only to theposition shown in FIG. 7, where its segments 29 and 30 just begin tore-engage the cross pin 31 on the plug valve member 17.

With this arrangement, the actuator 19 can be used to close the valvebut cannot be used to reopen it once it has been closed. This is ofparticular advantage where the valve is in a gas line in a residence,for example, where the customer should be free to turn off the gas, suchas in case of a flood, but should not be free to turn it back on againbecause of the danger of an explosion.

The present valve assembly also has a valve re-opening actuator whichrequires a special tool to operate and which has provision forindicating any tampering. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, this valvere-opening actuator is a frusto-conical plate 32 of short axial extentwhich is attached by a bolt 33 to the lower end of the plug valve member17. Plate 32 sealingly, but slidingly, engages the lower end of thevalve body 11. The plug valve member 17 has a non-circular projection 34on its lower end, which preferably is D-shaped as shown in FIGS. 3 and8, and which is received snugly in a complementary recess in the top ofplate 32. The plate 32 turns in unison with the plug valve member 17,and vice versa.

The frusto-conical shape and the short axial extent of the plate 32 makeit difficult to grip and turn with a conventional wrench.

The plate 32 is formed with a pair of circumferentially-spaced openings35 and 36 in its frusto-conical periphery. These openings are normallyclosed by respective bolts 37 and 38, which are screw-threaded into theplate 32. When these bolts are removed a specially-designed spannerwrench may be applied to the plate 32, with projections on the wrenchfitting into the openings 35 and 36, and the plate may be turned 90 toturn the plug valve member 17 from its closed position to its openposition.

A seal arrangement is provided for indicating the removal of the bolts37, 38, by an unauthorized person. This seal comprises a wire 40 whichextends through a drilled passage 41 in the head of each bolt (FIG. 9)and through a registering passage 42 in the plate 32 ad- 15 jacent tothe bolt head. The opposite ends of this wire are overlapped aboutmidway between the openings 35 and 36, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3,and sealed to each other by a lead disc 41' or the like. Removal ofeither bolt 37 or 38 will cause the disc 41 to be broken, therebyindicating that the valve has been tampered with.

This arrangement makes it difficult for anyone not having a speciallydesigned wrench to re-open the valve once it has been closed.Furthermore, in case such unauthorized re-opening of the valve doesoccur, the breakage of the plug 41 will provide an external indicationof such tampering the next time a routine visual inspection of the valveis made by the gas company.

It will be seen that by a reorientation of the cross bore 18 withrespect to the inlet and outlet passages the valve may be in closedcondition when the plug and actuator are in the positions indicated inFIGS. 4 and 5, and that it would then be in open position with the partsin the positions shown in FIG. 6. With this orientation, the valve wouldbe readily operable from closed to open position by movement of theactuator 19 but return movement of the actuator 19 would be ineffectiveto reset the valve into closed position.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the illustratedembodiment of the present invention constitutes a relatively simple andreliable valve assembly which is readily adapted to be moved from oneposition to a second position but not to be returned from such secondposition to such one position except by authorized personnel. While apresently-preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described indetail, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible ofother physical embodiments differing from the particular arrangementdisclosed.

I claim:

1. A valve assembly comprising: a valve body having inlet and outletpassages; a plug valve member having a passage therein for connectingsaid inlet and outlet passages in the valve body, said plug valve memberbeing disposed within and being rotatable in said valve body between anopen position in which its passage connects said inlet and outletpassages in the valve body and a closed position in which it blocks saidinlet passage from said outlet passage, a cross pin carried by said plugvalve member and caged therein by said valve body; a valve-closingactuator at one end of the valve body and rotatable in oppositedirections; said actuator having a portion extending into and rotatablein said plug member, stop means acting between said actuator and thevalve body for limiting the rotation of the actuator in either directionbetween first and second spaced limit stops; said portion of saidactuator having at least one circumferentially elongated slot thereinslidably receiving said cross pin and being thereby attached to saidplug valve member, said actuator at said first limit stop thereofengaging the cross pin on said plug valve member in the latters openposition and, upon rotation toward said second limit stop, turning saidplug valve member to its closed position, said actuator, when turnedfrom said second limit stop back toward said first limit stop, slidingits circumferentially elongated slot over said cross pin without turningsaid plug valve member whereby the latter remains in its closedposition.

2. In a valve assembly comprising an annular valve body having aninternal cavity bounded by a circular wall, a valve plug rotatablydisposed within said valve body cavity and having a circular outer wallengaged with said circular wall of said body, said plug having acircular cavity therein opening outwardly thereof and coaxial with saidplug, an actuator member having a portion rotatively disposed withinsaid plug cavity, a circumferentially elongated slot extending throughsaid portion, a pin extending through said slot and through said plugand being caged in position by said wall of said valve body, said pinretaining said portion of said actuator member in said plug cavity, stopmeans between said body and said actuator member for limiting rotationof the actuator member with respect to the body, said pin beingengageable with said plug in one direction of movement of said actuatormember as limited by said stop means and having lost motion within saidslot upon reverse rotation thereof.

3. A valve assembly comprising: a valve body having inlet and outletpassages; a plug valve member having a passage therein for connectingsaid inlet and outlet passages in the valve body, said plug valve memberbeing disposed within and being rotatable in said valve body between anopen position in which its passage connects said inlet and outletpassages in the valve body and a closed position in which it blocks saidinlet passage from said outlet passage, an actuator member, one of saidmembers having a cavity therein and the other'member comprising aportion rotatably disposed in said cavity, said cavity and portion beinglocated within said valve body, said other member having acircumferentially elongated slot therein, a pin passing through said onemember and through said slot and being caged in position by said valvebody, stop means acting between said actuator and said valve body forlimiting the rotation of the actuator in either direction between firstand second spaced limit stops; said pin being in driving engagement witha side of said slot when said actuator is at said first limit of saidstop means for rotating said plug member upon rotation thereof to saidsecond limit and having lost motion in said slot upon return rotation ofsaid actuator from said second to said first limit.

1. A valve assembly comprising: a valve body having inlet and outletpassages; a plug valve member having a passage therein for connectingsaid inlet and outlet passages in the valve body, said plug valve memberbeing disposed within and being rotatable in said valve body between anopen position in which its passage connects said inlet and outletpassages in the valve body and a closed position in which it blocks saidinlet passage from said outlet passage, a cross pin carried by said plugvalve member and caged therein by said valve body; a valve-closingactuator at one end of the valve body and rotatable in oppositedirections; said actuator having a portion extending into and rotatablein said plug member, stop means acting between said actuator and thevalve body for limiting the rotation of the actuator in either directionbetween first and second spaced limit stops; said portion of saidactuator having at least one circumferentially elongated slot thereinslidably receiving said cross pin and being thereby attached to saidplug valve member, said actuator at said first limit stop thereofengaging the cross pin on said plug valve member in the latter''s openposition and, upon rotation toward said second limit stop, turning saidplug valve member to its closed position, said actuator, when turnedfrom said second limit stop back toward said first limit stop, slidingits circumferentially elongated slot over said cross pin without turningsaid plug valve member whereby the latter remains in its closedposition.
 2. In a valve assembly comprising an annular valve body havingan internal cavity bounded by a circular wall, a valve plug rotatablydisposed within said valve body cavity and having a circular outer wallengaged with said circular wall of said body, said plug having acircular cavity therein opening outwardly thereof and coaxial with saidplug, an actuator member having a portion rotatively disposed withinsaid plug cavity, a circumferentially elongated slot extending throughsaid portion, a pin extending through said slot and through said plugand being caged in position by said wall of said valve body, said pinretaining said portion of said actuator member in said plug cavity, stopmeans between said body and said actuator member for limiTing rotationof the actuator member with respect to the body, said pin beingengageable with said plug in one direction of movement of said actuatormember as limited by said stop means and having lost motion within saidslot upon reverse rotation thereof.
 3. A valve assembly comprising: avalve body having inlet and outlet passages; a plug valve member havinga passage therein for connecting said inlet and outlet passages in thevalve body, said plug valve member being disposed within and beingrotatable in said valve body between an open position in which itspassage connects said inlet and outlet passages in the valve body and aclosed position in which it blocks said inlet passage from said outletpassage, an actuator member, one of said members having a cavity thereinand the other member comprising a portion rotatably disposed in saidcavity, said cavity and portion being located within said valve body,said other member having a circumferentially elongated slot therein, apin passing through said one member and through said slot and beingcaged in position by said valve body, stop means acting between saidactuator and said valve body for limiting the rotation of the actuatorin either direction between first and second spaced limit stops; saidpin being in driving engagement with a side of said slot when saidactuator is at said first limit of said stop means for rotating saidplug member upon rotation thereof to said second limit and having lostmotion in said slot upon return rotation of said actuator from saidsecond to said first limit.